You can't blame computer makers as they try to shake off the low margin shackles of the commodity PC market. It's reasonable, though, to ask that they put out a product worthy of a premium price tag.

The touch-screen version of the Envy 23 line starts at $1,049, but HP submitted a $1,949 version for review. The implication is that that HP wants you to think of this PC as a serious computer for performance or home entertainment. The problem is that its distinguishing features, Windows 8 Pro and 16GB of RAM, are easily added to other PCs in this price range, while many of those systems have their own unique features that you can't add to the Envy 23.

With nothing to really set it apart, the Envy 23 is an overly safe Windows 8 all-in-one. In its lower-end configurations, this system is comparable with other PCs in the $1,000 to $1,300 price range. In this more expensive tier, the Envy 23 is nothing special.

The Envy line represents classic HP blandification to suit its big-box retail partners and the presumed preferences of mainstream customers. What started as an exciting off-shoot brand from its boutique, now-dead, Voodoo PC arm has instead become just another black, mostly plastic computer. The Envy 23 is neither ugly nor attractive. It's not really anything.

The design at least meets the basic standards of a modern touch-screen PC. You can tilt the display back 30 degrees for a more ergonomic touch-screen experience while you're standing. The touch screen itself has the same "good enough" responsiveness as the screens on the Dell Inspiron 2330 and the Toshiba LX835. You will notice some drag, but not enough to disrupt basic swiping and selection interactions.

Coming in for review with such a high price tag puts the HP in tough competitive territory. Every other Windows 8 PC I've reviewed so far in this price range has a 27-inch display, in Dell's case with a 2,560x1,440-pixel screen for the XPS One 27. That puts the 23-inch, 1,920x1,080-pixel Envy 23 at a screen size disadvantage.

In general, the HP keeps step with its various components. The Core i7 3770S is par for this price range, and its 16GB of system of RAM is actually above the norm. The extra memory didn't help much on our performance tests, though. Professional-grade video editing and other demanding workloads will benefit from more RAM, but the mainstream consumers most likely to buy this PC won't likely notice it.

You can always swap out the extra memory and put the cost savings toward the AMD Radeon 7650A graphics chip upgrade via HP's configurator. That would make a more meaningful contribution to overall system functionality than 16GB of RAM/entry-level Nvidia GeForce 630M combo in our review unit.

As I alluded to earlier, the bigger issue with this higher-end Envy 23 is that it has no features you can't easily replicate on other desktops. Adding RAM or Windows Pro to almost any all-in-one post purchase is trivial. But the Dell XPS One 27 also has the highest-resolution screen among consumer-level Windows all-in-ones. The Apple iMac has the same resolution and Thunderbolt ports. Even the comparatively affordable Asus ET2300INTI, a $1,399 Windows 8 all-in-one, has Thunderbolt and wireless display (WiDi) capabilities. All of those features are integrated into their respective PCs, and you cannot upgrade to them with an aftermarket part.

HP has nothing unique in the Envy 23. I might even welcome more dubious features, like NFC or gesture control, just to show that HP was giving this PC the same attention as its other Windows 8 all-in-one, the Spectre One. That system also has its flaws, but it at least tries something new. All HP has managed to do here is overcharge for a memory upgrade. Going from 8GB to 16GB will cost you $320. Even Apple, notorious for high-priced component upgrades, only asks $200 for an extra 8GB in the iMac.